Methods and apparatus for cross platform monitoring and customer targeting

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for detecting and correlating content consumption, e.g., viewing of programs and/or accessing websites, across platforms of different types are described. Content consumption, e.g., requests and/or streaming is monitored and recorded on a per subscriber basis for a wide variety of platforms, e.g., set boxes, IP content playback devices such as cell phones or pad devices with IP streaming support, and/or other devices. Web site access and corresponding content consumption is determined based on DNS requests thereby avoiding the need for monitoring at web site servers and allowing centralized monitoring of web site access operations in the form of DNS requests to be detected by a Web service provider who, at least in some embodiments, is also a content provider.

FIELD

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus relating to themonitoring of customers who may use a plurality of different platformsto access and/or consume content and, more particularly, generating andusing information relating to cross platform tracking which is usefulfor customer targeting and/or control of marketing programs.

BACKGROUND

Targeting of content consumers is desirable for a wide range ofapplications from product marketing to reaching a desired politicalaudience for proposes of increasing public awareness with regard to aparticular cause, in support of a political candidate or for otherreasons.

Content consumers may now access and/or be presented with content via awide variety of different mechanisms including broadcast programs, ondemand programs such as VOD, switched digital video, the Internet, etc.The wide variety of content delivery mechanisms presents someone tryingto reach a particular audience, whether that be a potential customer orpolitical supporter, with the difficult problem of how to best allocatemarketing resources between the variety of mechanisms and/or contentdelivery systems which may be used in an attempt to effectively reach acustomer.

In order to determine the effectiveness of a marketing campaign,customer actions are often monitored on web sites. This is oftenreferred to as monitoring of “click through” which involves detectionand tracking of a customer clicking on an advertisement to visit awebsite or obtain information presented to the user as part of a webpage or advertisement displayed along web content.

The tracking of the success of broadcast advertisements oradvertisements presented via a content distribution system which doesnot support web pages tends to be more difficult since there is often noequivalent to a direct “click through” to be measured since in manycases a user may be presented information via a set top box ortelevision but not have an opportunity to select a web page directly onthe device used to present the advertisement. In fact, while a user maypromptly seek information via the Internet on a product after beingpresented an advertisement, e.g., by visiting a product web sideadvertised on the television, the Web site hosting service generally hasno way of knowing that the party contacting the web site for productinformation or purchase recently was presented with an advertisement forthe product on a TV.

In attempting to effectively reach an audience, a marketer will oftentarget an audience with a particular demographic, such as age, incomeand/or political affiliation. As part of a marketing program, afterdetermining the target audience the marketer often allocates advertisingresources to different content delivery methods in attempt to reach thetargeted audience. Unfortunately, when allocating resources to differentcontent delivery platforms the advertiser often has little knowledge asto whether advertisements are being presented to the same individuals ina geographic area multiple times via different content deliverymechanisms and/or if the advertiser is reaching the desired number ofdifferent potential customers with little overlap in the audience beingreached via different advertising channels, e.g., corresponding todifferent content delivery mechanisms.

While inferences may be made about customers and the success ofparticular marketing channels, broadcast and VOD service providers areoften different from the entities hosting individual web sites. Forconfidentiality reasons, the broadcast and/or other content providersand web site hosting service providers normally do not share detailedcustomer information but rather hide the individual identities ofcustomers before sharing or exchanging customer information. Thisgenerally makes it difficult or impossible to determine with certaintywhether a particular customer who visited a website was also exposed toa particular advertisement or if the same set of customers are beingpresented with advertisements which are repetitive.

In view of the above discussion it should be appreciated that there is aneed for improved methods and apparatus for determining, with a higherdegree of certainty, whether advertising is reaching the same ordifferent potential customers via multiple communication channels and/orcontent delivery systems. It would be desirable if such informationcould be obtained and provided to marketing individuals without havingto disclose the identities of the individual potential customers. Itwould also be possible if automated methods of reallocating resourcesbetween marketing channels could be developed which would allow fordynamic re-allocation of marketing resources between available marketingchannels and/or content distribution networks based on information onthe audience and/or number of distinct customers being reached asdetermined by monitoring of various content distribution networks and/orsignaling.

SUMMARY

Various features relate to detecting and correlating contentconsumption, e.g., viewing of programs and/or accessing websites, acrossplatforms of different types. Content consumption, e.g., requests and/orstreaming is monitored and recorded on a per subscriber basis for a widevariety of platforms, e.g., set boxes, IP content playback devices suchas cell phones or pad devices with IP streaming support, and/or otherdevices. Web site access and corresponding content consumption isdetermined based on DNS requests thereby avoiding the need formonitoring at web site servers and allowing centralized monitoring ofweb site access operations in the form of DNS request to be detected bya Web service provider who, at least in some embodiments, is also acontent provider. In some embodiments the service provider is a cable orother service provider which provides to content via one or more contentstreaming platforms as well as access to Internet sites via DNS (DomainName System) resolution operations which may be performed by one or moreDNS servers.

In accordance with various embodiments, a service provider whichprovides access to content as well as websites, monitors a variety ofcontent requests. The content requests may be requests to be providedaccess to switched digital video (SDV) content streams, video on demand(VOD) content which may be supplied via a cable network or other type ofcommunications network such as an Internet Protocol (IP) network.Broadcast content viewing, e.g., via a Set Top Box, may also be reportedvia set top box reporting features implemented in some embodiments whichreport tuning and/or recording operations to a network headend.

In various embodiments content consumption requests and/or consumptioninformation is detected or received in a headend and associated with adevice, IP address, MAC address or other identifier which is stored in acustomer, e.g., subscriber record. Detection of content requests and/orrequests for content streams including switched digital streams isperformed in some embodiments in a network headend, e.g., at a controldevice or control devices for receiving and responding to content orstreaming requests.

Web access requests are detected by monitoring requests to a DNS serverresponsible for providing address information, e.g., IP addressinformation, in response to name resolution requests commonly used toaccess a web site for which a user has a web site address, e.g., a www(world wide web) address. In this manner, web site access operations canbe detected without having to directly monitor a web server or activityconducted by a user while on a web server. DNS requests include and IPaddress or other identifier of the device from which a DNS request ismade thereby allowing the DNS request to be matched to a subscriberrecord based on the IP address or another identifier included in the DNSrequest.

By tracking DNS requests, the time they are made and correlating them tothe subscriber which initiated the request by device and/or addressinformation included in a subscriber record, Internet web site accessand thus the consumption of content corresponding to one or more websites and the time of such accesses as indicated by the time of one ormore DNS requests, can be detected and reliably matched to a subscriber.

Thus content consumption information corresponding to individualsubscribers is detected and correlated with time and information on thecontent provided to the subscriber. In this manner it is possible todetect what advertising and/or programs a subscriber was exposed to andwhat web sites the subscriber visited as it may relate in time to theexposure.

While the service provider collects and has access to information aboutindividual subscribers, the information is anonymized prior to beingprovided to an external marketing system. The marketing system candetermine from the information actual overlaps between viewers ofparticular advertising content supplied or incorporated into contentknown to have been streamed to a subscriber with actual web site visits.Thus, a marketer or other advertiser can avoid, adjust or tailor amarketing campaign to reduce or avoid undesired repetitive adds to thesame individuals and can better target marketing resources to a wideraudience by avoiding presenting advertisements to the same individualsvia multiple streaming platforms when the desire is to reach a widernumber of content consumers.

In at least some embodiments a marketing system automatically diverts orreallocates future marketing resources based on the information obtainedfrom the cross market platform monitoring. For example, when it isdetermined that a large group of viewers of a particular switcheddigital video program are exposed to an advertisement via a streamingplatform providing another different program, resources are redirectedfrom the one of the platforms or programs to different platform orprogram, e.g., broadcast TV, in an attempt to reach a wider audienceduring the particular marketing campaign.

While various exemplary embodiments and features have been described,numerous additional features and embodiments are described in thedetailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system implemented in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2, which comprises a combination of FIGS. 2A and 2B, is a flowchartillustrating the steps of an exemplary method, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment implemented using the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of an exemplary method ofoperating an exemplary audience measurement device in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a set of exemplary consumption information relatingto an exemplary marketing campaign showing the number of users reachedduring a monitoring interval via different advertising channelscorresponding to different platforms, e.g., corresponding to differentcommunications technologies and/or channels, and the total number ofunique customer reached via the multiple platforms and channels.

FIG. 5 illustrates information relating to overlap in customers reachedvia different marketing platforms which is generated in variousembodiments and used as the basis for automatic adjustment of marketingresources to achieve goals in terms of the number of unique customersreached.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary DNS server implemented in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary control server implemented in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary consumption tracking and correlationdevice implemented in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary marketing management server implementedin accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 implemented in accordancewith one exemplary embodiment of the invention. System 100 supportsdelivery of content to customer premise equipment (CPEs), e.g., set topboxes, internet protocol (IP) capable TVs or other IP devices such astablets, mobile phones, which may support IP content delivery of TV orother programs via an application on the device. The system 100 alsosupports web browsing via support for DNS lookups and Internetconnectivity.

The exemplary system includes one or more subsystems which may bephysically located at different locations. The one or more subsystemsshown in the system 100 communicate and/or exchange information over oneor more communications network, e.g., cable network, Internet etc. Thevarious components of the system 100 will now be described. The contentprovider system provides video, advertisement and/or other content tothe content/video storage device 158 as indicated by arrow 195.

The system 100 includes a content supplier system 101, a network headendand/or hubsite 102, a communications network 161, e.g., including ahybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network and/or Internet, a cellular network171, a marketing management system 108, e.g., marketing control server,a cellular network 171 and a plurality of geographic regions 104, 106each including a plurality of customer premises.

Each geographic region includes one or more customer premises 110, 112,114, 116. Devices at the customer premises can receive content in avariety of ways such as via communications network 161 or wirelesslye.g., via cellular network 171. Customer premises normally includemultiple devices corresponding to a subscriber. A customer record storedin a customer database 170 at the network normally identifies thesubscriber devices associated with an individual customer premise 110and/or service subscriber by the device's MAC address and/or otheridentification information such as an IP address used by the device.

Exemplary customer premise 110 includes a cable modem 124 though whichInternet connectivity is provided to the home network 125 and devicescoupled to the home network. The customer premise 110 also includes afirst customer premise device 118, e.g., a set top box which is coupledto a display 120, a second customer premise device 122 such as a PC, paddevice or other device with IP connectivity via the home network 125.

While a mobile device such as cell phone 126 is shown at the customerpremise 110 it should be appreciated that it can be used from a widevariety of locations with content being supplied via cellular network171 but with the device remaining associated with the account andcustomer record of customer premise 1 which corresponds to thesubscriber who owns the cell phone 126.

As should be appreciated the various customer premise device 118, 122,126 can be supplied with content in a variety of ways by what aresometimes referred to as “platforms” or servers. The content serverwhich supplied content to the set top box via cable network 161 maybeand normally is different form the content server which supplied thelaptop 122 or other IP based device running an IP (IP) TV applicationwith content in response to a request. It should also be appreciatedthat while the laptop 122 or other customer premise device with Internetcapability may access one or more Web pages this is normally donethrough the help of a DNS server which translates a domain name or webpage URL into an IP address in response to a request from the device.

In order to support various content services including switch digitalvideo, broadcast TV, cable network supplied VOD content, IP VOD contentsuch as IP TV, as well as Web page access, the network headend 102includes a plurality of devices. The exemplary headend 102 includes abroadcast file server 150, a switched digital video content server 152,a cable network Video On-Demand (VOD) server 154, a Switched DigitalVideo (SDV)/VOD control device 156, content video storage 158, a DNSsystem 160, an advertisement server 164, an IP VOD server 166, anaudience measurement device 168 which also performs content consumptiontracking and correlation of device to service subscriber operations, acustomer database 170 and a business management server 172 coupledtogether via local network and/or bus 151 which also coupled the devicesat the headend to network interface 174 through which the devices cancommunicate via the communications network 161 or cellular network 171with devices at various locations including customer premises 110, 112,114, 116.

The (Broadcast File System) BFS server 150 broadcasts content via cablenetwork program channels according to a program broadcast schedule.Thus, via BFS 150 and QAM cable channel network delivery, STB 118 aswell as other devices on the cable network 161 can receive a pluralityof broadcast channels. In some but not all embodiments the customerpremise devices 118 report tuning information to the audiencemeasurement device 168 providing information indicating what content isbeing viewed at a particular point via the customer premise device 118reporting the tuning Thus, in at least some embodiments the audiencemanagement system is provided viewing information in the form of a STBidentifier and tuning information as well as time information therebyallowing viewing via a STB of broadcast channels to be tracked andcorrelated to a subscriber based on the identifier, e.g., MAC address ofthe STB provided to the subscriber.

The switched digital video server 152 is responsible for outputtingswitched video channels supplied over the network 161 to one or moredevices. While switched digital video is output according to a programschedule whether or not a switched digital video channel is provided toan individual customer premise or region depends on whether a request isreceived from a STB or other customer premise device for a particularchannel. SDV/VOD control device 156 is responsible for receiving andprocessing requests for SDV channels and cable network supplied VODprograms. Assuming a service is authorized for a customer, the SDV/VODcontrol device 156 will control the VOD server to supply the content andinformation the STB 118 of how to tune to receive the content and/orcontrol a switching device in the communications network to supply arequested SDV channel to the requesting STB. SDV/VOD control device 156includes a tracking module 157 which tracks SDV and VOD requests andreports to the audience measurement device information indicating thecontent supplied, the time the content, e.g., program or VOD title issupplied and the duration content is supplied to a customer premisedevice 118.

Thus, audience management device 168 receives VOD and SDV viewinginformation from the control device 156 with information, e.g., a settop box or customer premise identifier, allowing the content delivery tobe tracked and associated with an individual customer premise, e.g.,based on a customer premise record which includes set top box and/orcustomer premise identifier information associated with individualservice subscribers.

The headend also includes DNS server 160 which is responsible forresponding to URL resolution requests, e.g., a request from a devicewhich can access a web page for an IP address corresponding to a webpage name sometimes referred to as a URL. DNS server 160 responds to URLrequests by sending a response back to a requesting device such aslaptop 122 corresponding to customer premise 1. In addition toresponding to URL resolution requests and including circuitry forgenerating such requests, the DNS server 160 also includes a URL requesttracking module 162 which tracks URL requests and reports to theaudience management device on the URL requests received and processed.Reporting includes information identifying the web page to which a URLrequest corresponds, the time of the request and sufficient informationto identify the requesting device, e.g., a MAC address or IP addresswhich can be correlated to a particular subscriber and customer premisevia information included in the customer database 170. In this manner,the audience management device is made aware of URL requests and thuscorresponding access of a web page corresponding to the URL request by aservice subscriber without the need for tracking software orparticipation in tracking by the web page being contacted.

By supporting a DNS looking tracking feature and providing URLresolution request information to the audience management device 168 alevel of Web content access not normally available to an audiencemeasurement device is provided allowing for correlation of not only webpage access operations but also numerous other types of content viewingin a reliable fashion.

Having described the DNS and cable VOD tracking functionality, we willnow turn to the IP VOD server 166 which is capable of tracking andreporting IP VOD content access operations, e.g., IP based VOD requests.The IP VOD server receives request for IP VOD content delivery from oneor more devices, e.g., cell phone 126 and/or laptop 122 running an IP TVapplication. The VOD server 166 received an IP content delivery requestand then streams the content, e.g., in a unicast IP stream, to therequesting device over the Internet, Cellular communications network orany other service which supports IP data content delivery. Eventmonitoring device 167 in the IP VOD server reports the content deliveryrequests including the time of the request, the customer device orsubscriber to which the content request corresponds and informationindicating the content delivered in response to the request. Thecustomer device may be identified by IP address, MAC address or someother device identifier associated with a subscriber in a subscriberrecord stored in customer database 170 which can be accessed by theaudience measurement device 168.

While in some embodiments the IP VOD server includes monitoring device167 in other embodiments the IP TV or other application which initiatesIP VOD requests from the playback device 122 includes a tracking deviceor module 167 which reports requests for IP content to the audiencemanagement module thereby placing at least some of the trackingfunctionality in the customer devices which then report the informationvia IP communications to the audience management device 168.

As can be appreciated the network headend 102 includes a plurality ofmonitoring devices 157, 162, 167 on different platforms or servers whichreport content consumption to the audience measurement module. Customerdatabase 170 includes customer records corresponding to individualservices subscribers, e.g., one per service subscriber and thus normallyone per customer premise since a customer premise normally correspondsto a single service subscriber. The customer record includes informationon services which are subscribed to by a customer, device identificationinformation indicating devices corresponding to the service subscriberand also subscriber demographic information in some embodiments such asage, income level, geographic location, political affiliation, etc.

The device identification information in the customer record can includedevice MAC addresses, IP addresses and/or other device or customeridentifiers including a telephone number of a customer premise deviceand/or a home network identifier, e.g., SSID of the home network 125.

The audience measurement device 168 can access the customer database 170and records included therein and correlate requests for content and URLresolution requests indicating web page access to an individualsubscriber based on the device and/or other identification informationincluded in the customer record and reported information. The audiencemanagement module using the time information can determine the order ofcontent consumption events for an individual subscriber and accuratelycorrelate content viewed with web page access operations. Demographicinformation in the subscriber record can, and is, accessed. The audiencemeasurement module correlates content access and generates anatomizeddata based on region, content accessed, order of access operations and awide variety of other pieces of information which can be correlated andqueried without disclosing the identity of individual subscribes outsidethe network headend or service provider network. Information fromadvertisement server 164 regarding advertisements provided with or aspart of the consumed content can and sometimes is also reported to theaudience management modules allowing for the correlation ofadvertisements and consumption information. Accordingly, audiencemanagement device 168 can not only track web page accesses but cancorrelate VOD and other content consumption with web page and otheradvertising channels to reliably determine the number of unique viewersbeing presented with a particular advertisement.

Content consumption information along with advertisement servinginformation is communicated form the audience measurement device 168,after anonymization of the information, to prevent identification ofindividual users, to the marketing management server 108. In thismanner, the marketing management server 108 is provided usefuldemographic information along with cross platform viewing informationand, optionally information about advertisements which were served aspart of a VOD session. Information about advertisements known to beincluded in broadcast programs and/or SDV programs viewed by one or moreusers may also be reported with the consumption tracking informationbased on information stored at the headend in memory or provided by theadvertisement server 164 which may insert or provide advertisements tothe BFS server to be incorporated into broadcast content. Theinformation is received and processed by the reception module 180 of theaudience measurement device 168.

Accordingly in the system 100, the marketing management server receivesreliable information about consumption of both program content andadvertisements in a reliable way that is correlated across multipleplatforms including platforms used to provide video services as well asWeb based platforms which present web pages with web page access beingdetermined from DNS requests.

While the marketing management system 108 receives a wide variety ofreliable correlated information which can be used to determine thenumber of unique viewers being presented particular advertisements ormarketing content, the identities of the individual viewers is notprovided thereby protecting the privacy of individual users.

FIG. 2, which comprises a combination of FIGS. 2A and 2B, is a flowchart200 illustrating the steps of an exemplary method implemented using thesystem shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. Asdiscussed below the various steps of flowchart 200 are performed by oneor more devices of the system 100.

Operation starts in step 202. Operation proceeds from start step 202 tosteps 203, 204, 206, 208 and 210 which are performed by differentdevices asynchronously in some embodiments. In step 203 a DNS servermonitors for DNS resolution requests from one or more customer devices.These requests are sent, e.g., when a user seeks to access a web sitevia a web browser. The requests normally include information indicatingthe url (e.g., character string identifying a web site) of the web siteto be resolved and information used to return the results of theresolution request, e.g., an IP address or other identifier of a devicefrom which the request was received or cable modem of the customerpremise where the home network from which a request was received islocated. Operation proceeds from step 203 to step 212. In step 212 theDNS server receives a DNS resolution request from a device correspondingto a customer, e.g., a customer device having web browsing capability.Such DNS resolution requests are received when a customer devicerequests a URL, e.g., via a web browser, to be resolved into an IPaddress. The resolution is performed by the DNS server 160 whichnormally returns an IP address corresponding to the URL to therequesting device in response. In accordance with one feature of someembodiments, the DNS server not only resolves the DNS requests but alsotracks and stores information regarding the DNS resolution request andthe requesting customer. While a DNS request does not establish actualaccess of the corresponding web site, given that the normal use of a DNSrequest is to obtain an IP address of a web site which it thenautomatically accessed by a web browser, the monitor of DNS requestsprovides a good indicator of web site access without having a monitoringdevice at the actual web site which may be accessed. Thus, monitoring ofDNS requests at the DNS server or elsewhere provides a useful tool formonitoring web site activity without requiring consent or authorizationof the web site operators and without having to actually directlyinteract or operate the web sites. Operation proceeds to step 214. Instep 214 the DNS server communicates information about the received DNSresolution request to an audience measurement device, e.g., such as theconsumption tracking and correlation device 168. The audiencemeasurement device interprets the DNS request as corresponding to a website access operation in at least some embodiments and is able toidentify the customer premise and/or customer premise devicecorresponding to the request based on the information in the DNS requestindicating the device from which the request was received and/or otherinformation communicated with the DNS request. In various embodiments,it may be known that a particular web site presents advertisementscorresponding to one or more marketing campaigns to users who access theweb site. Thus based on the tracking of DNS resolution information it ispossible to determine what web site or sites have been accessed, thetime of the access which is interpreted as the time of the resolutionrequest or the time response to the resolution request is sent. Thisinformation can and in some embodiments is correlated with user'sexposure to advertisements during a monitoring interval via othercontent platforms and/or channels such as cable channels, broadcastchannels, etc.

In some embodiments the information communicated from the DNS server 160to the audience measurement device further includes informationcorresponding to the requesting customer, e.g., such as an IP address orMAC address of a cable modem corresponding to the customer/subscriber.Operation proceeds from step 214 to step 230. In various embodiments thesteps 203, 212 and 214 are repeated, e.g., for additional DNS requests,as indicated by the loopback.

Returning to step 204. In step 204 a control device, e.g., SDV/VODcontrol device 156, monitors for video requests from one or morecustomer devices. Operation proceeds from step 204 to step 216 where thecontrol device receives a video request from a device corresponding to acustomer, e.g., a device capable of receiving SDV and/or VOD contentfrom servers 152, 154. A video request indicates a request for content,e.g., movie, TV program or another multimedia content, by the requestingdevice. In various embodiments the control device 156 tracks andmaintains information regarding the received video requests and therequesting devices and/or customers. Operation proceeds from step 216 tostep 218. In step 218 the control device communicates information aboutthe received video request with information corresponding to thecustomer, to the audience measurement device. Operation proceeds fromstep 218 to step 230. In various embodiments the steps 204, 216 and 218are repeatedly performed, e.g., for additional video requests, asindicated by the loopback.

Returning to step 206. In step 204 an IP VOD server, e.g., server 166,monitors for IP requests from one or more customer devices. Operationproceeds from step 206 to step 220 where the IP VOD server receives anIP video request from a device corresponding to a customer, e.g., acustomer device capable of receiving IP content stream, e.g.,smartphone, laptop, IP set top box, iPAD and/or other tablet deviceetc., from an IP content source such as the IP VOD server 166. An IPvideo request indicates a request for an IP compliant content streamcommunicating requested content, e.g., movie, TV program or anothermultimedia content. In various embodiments the IP VOD server 166 tracksand maintains information regarding the received IP requests and therequesting devices and/or customers. Operation proceeds from step 220 tostep 222. In step 222 the IP VOD server communicates information aboutthe received IP video request with information corresponding to thecustomer, to the audience measurement device. Operation proceeds fromstep 218 to step 230. In some embodiments the steps 206, 220 and 222 arerepeated, e.g., for additional IP content requests. Steps 206, 220 and222 are optional as indicated by the dashed boxes and thus may not beperformed in some embodiments. In some such embodiments the monitoringfor IP content requests is performed by an IP capable customer device asdiscussed with regard to steps 208, 224 and 226.

Referring to step 208. In step 204 a customer device, e.g., an IPcapable device, monitors for user input indicating a request for IPcontent. The user input may be indicative of a user selection of contentavailable for viewing, e.g., such as selection of a TV program, movie orother content from a playlist and/or program guide. In some embodimentsthe IP capable customer device is one of a cell phone, smartphone, atable device and/or other IP device. Operation proceeds from step 208 tostep 224 where the customer device receives an IP content request from adevice corresponding to a customer, e.g., a customer device capable ofreceiving IP content stream. In various embodiments a customer IP devicerequesting IP content maintains information regarding received IPcontent requests. Operation proceeds from step 224 to step 226. In step222 the customer device communicates information about the received IPcontent request with information identifying the customer device.Operation proceeds from step 226 to step 230.

Referring to step 210. In step 210 a customer device, e.g., a set topbox capable of receiving broadcast content, monitors for user inputindicating selection of a broadcast channel. Operation proceeds fromstep 210 to step 228. In step 228 the customer device communicatestuning information corresponding to the broadcast channel to theaudience measurement device. In some embodiments the informationcommunicated to the audience measurement device includes customer deviceidentification information. In some embodiments the tuning informationis communicated from the customer device on a periodic basis and furtherincludes a time indicating the time of the tuning event and a durationfor which the device remains tuned to the broadcast channel. In thecases where the duration information is communicated along with thetuning information, the customer device communicates the report afterthe tuning event. Operation proceeds from step 228 to step 230.

Returning to step 230. In step 230 the audience measurement devicereceives information reports communicated from at least one of the DNSserver, the control device, the IP VOD server and/or customer device(s).Operation proceeds from step 230 to step 234 via connecting node A 232.Following receipt of the information report(s) from one or more devices,the audience measurement device in step 234 analyzes the received datain the reports to correlate the information received. One or more of thesteps 238, 240 and 242 are performed as part of step 234 in someembodiments. In step 238 the audience measurement device performs, foreach content request and/or received report corresponding to contentrequest, a customer record lookup to identify the requesting customer.Using the device and/or customer identification information included inthe received reports the audience measurement device performs a lookupin the customer database 170 to find a match in order to identify therequesting customer. In step 240 the customer information correspondingto the identified, e.g., matched customer, is retrieved from thecustomer database 170. Thus for each content request and/or receivedreport the requesting customer is identified. In step 242 the audiencemeasurement device matches requests and/or reports corresponding to anindividual customer to generate a per customer consumption report. Thusin some embodiments the requests and/or received information reports aresorted out to match corresponding customers so that consumption reportfor each customer can be generated by the audience measurement device.

Operation proceeds from step 234 to step 244. In step 244 the audiencemeasurement device generates an overall consumption report indicatingcontent consumption by customer(s) across one or more content deliveryplatforms, e.g., broadcast delivery platform, SDV and/or VOD deliveryplatform, and IP delivery platform. In some embodiments the overallconsumption report data/information reports corresponding to a pluralityof customers are compiled together still with each individual report inthe overall consumption report being associated with a correspondingcustomer. In various embodiments one or more of the steps 246, 248 and250 are performed. As part of generating the consumption report, in step246 the customer identities, corresponding to the customer's referencedin the overall consumption report, are anonymized, e.g., obscured. Instep 248, anonymized customer information and optionally customerdemographic information is included in the overall consumption report.In step 250, the audience measurement device, having analyzed the datareceived in the information reports from one or more servers anddevices, determines number of unique customers accessing a piece ofcontent or being exposed to an advertisement and number of customersexposed to same advertisement(s) via different content deliveryplatforms. Further in step 250 the audience measurement device includesthis determined information in the overall consumption report. Thus theconsumption report includes information indicating how many customerswere exposed to which advertisements via one or more delivery platformsincluding via the internet. For example customers watching content viatwo different delivery platforms, e.g., broadcast and IP platform forexample, may be exposed to same or different advertisements depending onwhat kind of marketing campaign is being run by a marketingsystem/advertisers. The consumption report provides information, amongother data, that indicates how many customers are exposed to the sameadvertisements via different content delivery platforms. As will bediscussed such information allows a marketing system to betterreallocate advertisements and advertising resources in a manner that canresult in targeting a greater number of audience.

Operation proceeds from step 244 (including steps 246, 248 and 250) tostep 252. In step 252 the audience measurement device reports, e.g.,communicates, the overall consumption report to a marketing system,e.g., marketing management system 108. In some embodiments individualconsumption reports corresponding to individual customers may also besent to the marketing system along with the overall consumption reportor separately. Operation proceeds from step 252 back to step 232 viaconnecting note 254 with the loopback indicating that various steps inthe operation are repeated in some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 implemented by a marketing managementserver 108, e.g., a hardware device or system, in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. The method starts in step 302, e.g., withthe server being loaded with marketing rules and/or other information,e.g., number of unique customers to be reached, in a given marketinginterval as part of a marketing campaign to be automatically controlledby the marketing server.

Operation processes from step 302 after start of the marketing campaignto step 304 in which the server monitors for content consumptioninformation, e.g., information indicating advertisements presented tocustomers via different individual channels (advertising platforms)being used in the marketing campaign. The content consumption reportsfrom the measurement devices may provide information for a singleplatform or channel to which the measurement device corresponds and theinformation may be provided with unique customer identifyinginformation. Accordingly, information obtained in step 304 while usefulin providing information corresponding to a particular marketingplatform or channel may lack the detail needed to determine if customersreached via an individual channel are the same or different form thecustomers reached via a different channel.

Monitoring and receipt of reports from individual consumptionmeasurement devices, may occur on an ongoing basis as represented by thearrow shown at the output of step 304 retuning to the input to step 304.

Operation proceeds from step 304 to step 306 in which an overallconsumption report and/or individual consumption reports correspondingto different content delivery platforms are received from the audiencemeasurement device. Thus, the server can receive anonymized reportsdirectly from individual monitoring devices which also provide detailedinformation to the secure and trusted audience measurement device and/orfrom the audience measurement device. The audience measurement devicewhich is trusted with detailed client information which can uniquelyidentify customers receives and processes the detailed consumptionreports generated by the monitoring devices, correlates informationwhich identifies customers and generates the overall consumption reportwhich provides information on the number of unique customers which arereached via the overall marketing campaign as well as the number ofcustomers reached via particular communications channels. The overallconsumption report may be of the type shown in FIG. 4 and may alsoinclude the information shown in FIG. 5. As will be discussed below,such information can be used to determine how to shift or reallocateresources between different marketing channels to increase the number ofunique customers reached using limited marketing resources, e.g.,limited number of advertisements which can be served given marketingbudget constraints.

Operation proceeds form step 306 to step 308 in which the number ofunique customers reached by the marketing campaign for which a report isreceived in step 306 is compared to the target number of uniquecustomers which were to be reached during the interval to which thereceived report corresponds as part of the marketing campaign. In step310 a check is made to determine if the marketing goals are beingsatisfied or if a change in the allocation of marketing resources shouldbe made. If in step 310 it is determined that the number of uniquecustomers reached is not less than the target number of customers, i.e.,the marketing objectives in terms of unique customers to be reached isbeing satisfied, operation proceeds to step 322 in which the marketingcampaign is continued with the current advertisement resource allocationfor the marketing campaign being left unchanged. Operation proceeds fromstep 322 back to step 306 to indicate that the receipt and check ofmarketing campaign success may be repeated for subsequent monitoringintervals.

If in step 301 it is determined that the marketing objectives are notbeing meet, e.g., the number of unique customers being reached is belowthe target number operation proceeds from step 310 to steps 312. In step312 different advertising channels corresponding to different contentdelivery platforms reaching, in the marketing campaign, same individualcustomers, are identified from the overall consumption report. Thisallows identification of overlapping advertising channels correspondingto different content delivery platforms.

Operation proceeds from step 312 to step 314. In step 314 the marketingmanagement server decreases the advertisement resources allocated to oneof the identified overlapping channels corresponding to a first contentdelivery platform.

Operation proceeds from step 314 to step 316. In step 316 the marketingmanagement server increases the advertisement resources allocated toanother advertising channel corresponding to a second content deliveryplatform, e.g., an advertising channel with the least overlap, forbetter utilization of advertisement resources.

Operation proceeds from step 316 to step 320. In step 320 the marketingmanagement server sends new advertisement resource allocationinformation to an advertisement server to control allocation ofadvertisements to different platforms in accordance with new allocationof advertisement resources. Operation proceeds from step 320 back tostep 306 to indicate that the process may be repeated for subsequentmonitoring intervals.

FIG. 4 illustrates advertisement consumption information 400 that can begenerated based on the cross platform/delivery network advertisementexposure information that can be obtained by combining the informationfrom the various monitoring and reporting devices including the DNSrequest monitoring device.

The information 400 is shown for a single monitoring time period for asingle cross platform marketing campaign. However, it should beappreciated that the same or similar information can be generated formultiple different marketing campaigns and/or for different monitoringtime intervals.

As shown in FIG. 4, the advertising content consumption information 400which indicates information about the number of individuals reached,e.g., to which advertisements corresponding to the marketing campaignwere presented, as part of the cross platform marketing campaign duringthe monitoring interval to which the data 400 corresponds.

In the first column the total number 402 of unique customers reachedacross multiple platforms as part of the marketing campaign is shown.Unlike other system where reliable information is not available, in thecurrent system individual customers can be reliably tracked across theInternet as well as other content delivery platforms such as VOD, cableTV, broadcast TV, etc. thereby providing useful information which can beused to automatically control allocation of marketing resources, e.g.,ad placements and/or ad placement resources, to reach the desiredcombination of unique customers, e.g., individuals or households.

Note that the total number of customers reached 403 across multipleplatforms may be greater than the number of unique customers reached 402since the same customer may be reached via different advertisingplatforms. Counts 404, 406, 408, 410 indicate the number of customersreached during the monitoring interval as part of the campaign beingmonitored. Note that the information shows 40 customers reached bybroadcast, e.g., broadcast TV, 70 reached by IPTV, 50 reached by SDV orVOD and 40 reached by Web sites as indicated as discussed above bydetected DNS resolution requests. Note that the total comes to 200 butcolumn 1 makes it clear that only 100 unique customers were reached. Theinformation shown in FIG. 4 may be, and in some embodiments is suppliedto the marketing management server 108 which then processes theinformation and adjusts allocation of advertisements between theavailable communications platforms/channels to reach the desired numberof unique customers. Adjustments may be made based on marketing campaignrules 182 with resource allocation module 184 of the marketingmanagement server 108 shifting advertisements to increase or decreasethe number of advertisements communicated via particular platforms toachieve the desired marketing goals and thereby optimize use of thelimited amount of resources, e.g., ad purchasing ability, between thedifferent marketing platforms. The marketing goals may be to reach aparticular number of unique customers and/or to maximize the number ofunique customers reached across multiple advertising platforms given alimited amount of ad purchasing power, e.g., money, available for themarketing campaign.

In some embodiment the resource allocation module 184 adjusts whichplatforms and/or channels are to be used during a future time periodbased on the information shown in FIG. 4 and communicates the newadvertising information to the advertisement server 164 which controlsserving of ads to the different platforms/channels as part of themarketing campaign. In this manner an advertising campaign can beautomatically adjusted with changes in advertising resource allocationsbeing based on reliable unique customer exposure information which isprovided to the marketing management server 108 in an anonymous formwith the identities of individuals being identified to the marketingmanagement server.

FIG. 5 includes a chart 500 providing information on the differentcontent delivery platforms also sometime referred to as advertisingchannels, the number of customers reached by the channels and theoverlap in customers reached by the channels. The content deliverychannels are paired so that it is possible to see the ratio of commoncustomers reached via a pair of channels and to make changes to increasethe number of unique customers which can be reached. Column 502 includesinformation on Broadcast and IPTV overlap. It shows that 20 customerswere common to both the Broadcast TV and IPTV delivery platforms meaningthat 20 customers were reached via both channels as part of theadvertising campaign during the interval that the FIG. 5 datacorresponds to. In the FIG. 5 example it assumes that 40 users werereached via the broadcast channel (BRD) and 70 users were reached viathe IPTV. Since 20 of the users were common, it can be seen that onlyhalf of the customers on the broadcast channel were common to the IPTVchannel and half were unique. With regard to the IPTV channel 70customers were reached and only 20 were common Thus the IPTV channel hasa 2/7 common customer ratio reflecting that 5/7 of the customers reachedon the IPTV channel are not reached on the broadcast TV channel. Itshould be appreciated that by shifting resources from the broadcast(BRD) advertising platform to the IPTV platform a larger number ofunique users can be reached for each ad which is served. Thisinformation is used by the marketing server when making decisions toshift resources between channels, e.g., from the broadcast channel tothe IPTV channel to increase the number of unique users reached for agiven number of advertisements presented.

Column 504 includes information on Broadcast and SDV/VOD customeroverlap which is similar to the information explained with regard tocolumn 502.

Column 506 includes information on Broadcast TV and WEB advertisingcustomer overlap. Column 508 includes information on SDV/VOD and IPTVcustomer overlap. Column 510 includes information on SDV/VOD and WEBInternet customer overlap while column 512 includes information on IPTVand WEB advertising overlap in terms of customers which are reached.

As should be appreciated reliable information of the type shown in FIG.5 which is made available to the marketing server 108 by the consumptiontracking and correlation device 168 is generally not available due totracking limitations of known systems where reliable correlation ofcustomers and their exposure to advertisements across multiple platformsis generally not available or possible due to the data provided byindividual system being scrubbed to eliminate information which can beused to identify individuals in a reliable or detailed manner.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary DNS server 600 implemented in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment. The exemplary DNS server 600 can be, andin some embodiments is, used as the DNS server 160 shown in FIG. 1. Insome embodiments the DNS server 600 is configured to implement at leastsome of the steps of the method of flowchart 200. In accordance with oneaspect of some embodiments the exemplary DNS server 600 is configured todetect DNS requests from one or more customer devices requesting domainname resolution. In some embodiments the DNS server 600 monitors for DNSrequests from various customer devices serviced by the headend/hubsite102 and responds to such requests.

As shown, the DNS server 600 includes an input/output (I/O) interface602, an input device 604, a processor 606, and a memory 610 coupledtogether via a bus 608. The various elements of the DNS server 600 canexchange data and information over the bus 608.

The I/O interface 602 includes a transmitter 612 and a receiver 614. Insome embodiments via the I/O interface 602 the DNS server 600 is coupledto the network interface 174 of the headend 102 via which information iscommunicated with the devices located at the customer premises overcommunications network 161. Furthermore via the I/O interface 602, theDNS server 400 can exchange signals and/or information with otherdevices and/or system elements such as the servers in the networkheadend 102 over the local network 151 of system 100.

The input device 604 may be a keypad, touch screen, and/or other devicefor receiving and processing input commands/instructions. The processor606, e.g., a CPU, executes control routines 622 and in some embodimentsone or more modules to control the control server 600 to operate inaccordance with the invention and implement one or more steps of themethod of flowchart 200. Thus to control the operation of DNS server600, the processor 606 uses information, various modules and/or routinesincluding instructions stored in memory 610.

In addition to the routines 622, the memory 610 includes a monitoringmodule 624, a processing module 626, a URL tracking module 628, andstored DNS report 630.

Routines 622 include communications routines and/or device controlroutines. The monitoring/DNS request tracking module 624 is configuredto monitor for DNS requests and/or signals from devices, e.g., customerpremise devices located at customer premises as well as other devices atthe headend or located externally. Thus one or more DNS requests maybedetected by the tracking module 624 while monitoring and further actionsare taken by the DNS server 600 to respond to the requests. Theprocessing module 624 is configured to receive and process the DNSrequests when DNS requests are received by the DNS server 600, e.g., viathe interface 602. In various embodiments the processing module 624processes a received DNS request and determines the customer and/ordevice identification information from the received request, e.g.,customer ID and/or device ID.

The URL tracking module 628 is configured to track a URL oridentification information corresponding to a website indicated in a DNSrequest from a requesting device and generate a log including DNSinformation and identification information corresponding to customer orcustomer device or customer premise. For example when a DNS request isdetected from a first customer and the requesting customer and/or deviceis identified, the URL tracking module 628 generates an information log(or updates if the log already exist) that includes requesting customerand/or customer premise and/or device identification information and theURL or website identification information (e.g., domain or IP address).Such a log generated by the DNS server is stored in the memory as DNSreport 632 and may include multiple records with each record includingcustomer/device identification information, URL/website identificationinformation, time DNS request was received by the DNS server, etc. Insome embodiments the generated DNS report 630 is communicated to theconsumption tracking and correlation device 168 or another device, e.g.,periodically, or based on a predetermined schedule or upon request fromthe consumption tracking and correlation device 168. In variousembodiments the communications module 632 controls communication of DNSreport and/or other information from the DNS server 600, e.g., via theinterface 602, to the audience measurement device 168 or another device.In some embodiments the customer identification information isanonymized prior to communicating the DNS report to another device.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary control server 700 implemented inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. The exemplary control server700 can be, and in some embodiments is, used as the control device 156shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments the control server 700 isconfigured to implement at least some of the steps of the method offlowchart 200. In accordance with one aspect of some embodiments theexemplary control server 700 is configured to receive and processrequests for SDV channels and cable network supplied VOD programs, fromone or more customer devices.

As shown, the control server 700 includes an input/output (I/O)interface 702, an input device 704, a processor 706, and a memory 710coupled together via a bus 708. The various elements of the controlserver 700 can exchange data and information over the bus 708.

The I/O interface 702 includes a transmitter 712 and a receiver 714. Insome embodiments via the I/O interface 702 the control server 700 iscoupled to the network interface 174 of the headend 102 via whichinformation is communicated with the devices located at the customerpremises over communications network 161. Furthermore via the I/Ointerface 702, the control server 700 can exchange signals and/orinformation with other devices and/or system elements such as theservers in the network headend 102 over the local network 151 of system100.

The input device 704 may be a keypad, touch screen, and/or other devicefor receiving and processing input commands/instructions. The processor706, e.g., a CPU, executes control routines 722 and in some embodimentsone or more modules to control the control server 700 to operate inaccordance with the invention and implement one or more steps of themethod of flowchart 200. Thus to control the operation of control server700, the processor 706 uses information, various modules and/or routinesincluding instructions stored in memory 710.

In addition to the routines 722, the memory 710 includes a monitoringmodule 724, a processing module 726.

Routines 722 include communications routines and/or device controlroutines. The monitoring module 724 is configured to monitor for videorequests and/or signals from devices, e.g., customer premise deviceslocated at customer premises as well as other devices at the headend orlocated externally. The video requests maybe requests for SDV channelsand cable network supplied VOD programs. In various embodiments themonitoring module 724 detects a first video request from a devicecorresponding to a customer. The processing module 726 is configured toprocess the video requests received by the control device 700, e.g., viathe interface 702. In various embodiments the processing module 726processes a received video request and identifies the customer orcustomer premise or the device sending the request.

Assuming that service is authorized for a customer sending the videorequest, the control module 728 provides control information to the VODserver 154 (e.g., when on-demand content is requested) allowing VODserver 154 to supply the content to the requesting customer deviceand/or provides information, e.g., SDV parameters, of how to tune toreceive the content and/or control a switching device in thecommunications network to supply a requested SDV channel to therequesting customer device. The tracking module 730 is configured totrack the received video requests, e.g., SDV and VOD requests, andreport to the consumption tracking and correlation device (audiencemeasurement device) 168 information indicating the content supplied, thetime the content, e.g., program or VOD title is supplied and theduration content is supplied to a customer premise device. Thus thecontrol device 700 in various embodiments supplies VOD and SDV viewinginformation and identification information, e.g., customer device orcustomer premise identifier, allowing the content delivery to be trackedand associated with an individual customer premise, e.g., based on acustomer premise record which includes device and/or customer premiseidentifier information associated with individual service subscribers.In some embodiments the information communicated to the consumptiontracking and correlation device 168 is sent, e.g., periodically, orbased on a predetermined schedule or upon request from the consumptiontracking and correlation device 168. In various embodiments thecommunications module 732 controls communication of information from thecontrol device 700, e.g., via the interface 702, to the audiencemeasurement device 168 or another device. In some embodiments theidentification information corresponding to the customer (e.g., customerID, customer premise ID or device ID) is anonymized prior tocommunicating the information to the consumption tracking andcorrelation device 168.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary consumption tracking and correlationdevice 800 also referred to as audience measurement device implementedin accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The exemplary audiencemeasurement device 800 can be, and in some embodiments is, used as thetracking device 168 of FIG. 1. In some embodiments the audiencemeasurement device 800 is configured to implement at least some of thesteps of the method of flowchart 200. In accordance with one aspect ofsome embodiments the exemplary audience measurement device 800 isconfigured to receive and process information from at least one of a DNSserver, a control device (e.g., SDV/VOD control device) an IP VOD serverand/or a customer device and generate one or more consumption reports inaccordance with the invention.

As shown, the audience measurement device 800 includes an input/output(I/O) interface 802, an input device 804, a processor 806, and a memory810 coupled together via a bus 808. The various elements of the audiencemeasurement device 800 can exchange data and information over the bus808.

The I/O interface 802 includes a transmitter 812 and a receiver 814. Insome embodiments via the I/O interface 802 the audience measurementdevice 800 is coupled to the network interface 174 of the headend 102via which information may be communicated with the devices located atthe customer premises over communications network 161. Furthermore viathe I/O interface 802, the audience measurement device 800 can exchangesignals and/or information with other devices and/or system elementssuch as the servers in the network headend 102 over the local network151 of system 100.

The input device 804 may be a keypad, touch screen, and/or other devicefor receiving and processing input commands/instructions. The processor806, e.g., a CPU, executes control routines 822 and in some embodimentsone or more modules to control the audience measurement device 800 tooperate in accordance with the invention and implement one or more stepsof the method of flowchart 200. Thus to control the operation ofaudience measurement device 800, the processor 806 uses information,various modules and/or routines including instructions stored in memory810.

In addition to the routines 822, the memory 810 includes a monitoringmodule 824, a processing module 826, a correlation and individualconsumption report generation module 828, an overall consumption reportgeneration module 830, a communications control module 832, individualconsumption reports 834 and overall consumption report 836.

Routines 822 include communications routines and/or device controlroutines. The monitoring module 824 is configured to monitor forinformation and/or signals from devices, e.g., various servers whichsend tracking information to the audience measurement devices, and orother devices at the headend or located externally. The audiencemeasurement device 800 receives information from various devices via theinterface 802. The received information includes information reportsfrom one or more devices, e.g., DNS server, SDV/VOD control device, IPVOD server and/or customer device. In some embodiments the audiencemeasurement device 800 receives DNS request information from a DNSserver (e.g., DNS server 160), the information including informationabout a first DNS request, said information including an identifiercorresponding to a first customer and information indicating a URLincluded in the first DNS request. In some embodiments the audiencemeasurement device 800 further receives video information about a firstvideo request, the first video request being a request for content froma second device corresponding to a second customer to a control device(e.g., control device 156).

The processing module 826 is configured to process the informationreports received from the one or more devices as discussed in step 230.In various embodiments the processed information is passed on to othermodules for action, e.g., to consumption report generation modules.

The correlation and individual consumption report generation module 828is configured to analyze the data in the received information reports tocorrelate the received data. In some embodiments the module 828 isconfigured to perform the operations corresponding to steps 234, 238,240 and 242 of flowchart 200. Thus, as part of the analysis, the module828 is configured to perform, for each content request and/or receivedreport corresponding to content request (or tuning activity in case of acustomer device tuning to a broadcast channel in response to a userselection of the broadcast channel), a customer record lookup toidentify the requesting customer. Using the device and/or customeridentification information included in the received reports the module828 performs a lookup in the customer database 170 to find a match inorder to identify the requesting customer. In step 240 the customerinformation corresponding to the identified, e.g., matched customer, isretrieved from the customer database 170. Module 828 is furtherconfigured to match requests and/or reports corresponding to anindividual customer to generate a per customer consumption report. Thusmodule 828 is configured to generate individual consumption reports forvarious customers consuming content. In some embodiments the customerinformation in the individual consumption reports is anonymized by theanonymization module 829 included in the module 828. The individualreports generated by module 828 are stored as individual consumptionreports 834.

The overall consumption report generation module 830 is configured togenerate an overall consumption report indicating content consumption bycustomer(s) across one or more content delivery platforms, e.g.,broadcast delivery platform, SDV and/or VOD delivery platform, IPdelivery platform etc. In some embodiments the overall consumptionreport includes consumption data/information reports corresponding to aplurality of customers compiled together with each individual report inthe overall consumption report being associated with a correspondingcustomer. In some embodiments the overall consumption report generationmodule 830 is configured to implement one or all of the steps 244, 246,248 and 250 as part of generating the overall consumption report. Thusas part of generating the overall consumption report the module 830anonymizes, e.g., obscures, the customer identities corresponding to thecustomer's referenced in the overall consumption report, using theanonymization module 831. Furthermore as part of generating the overallconsumption report the module 830 includes, in the overall consumptionreport being generated, anonymized customer information and optionallycustomer demographic information. The module 830 in some embodiments isfurther configured to determine number of unique customers accessing apiece of content or being exposed to an advertisement and number ofcustomers exposed to same advertisement(s) via different contentdelivery platforms. In some embodiments the overall consumption reportthe module 830 is further configured to include this determinedinformation in the overall consumption report. Thus in some embodimentsthe overall consumption report includes information indicating how manycustomers were exposed to which advertisements via one or more deliveryplatforms including via the internet. The output of the overallconsumption report the module 830 is the generated overall consumptionreport 836 which is stored in the memory. The overall consumption report836 may include information of the type shown in FIG. 4 and may alsoinclude the information shown in FIG. 5. Thus in some embodiments theoverall consumption report the module 830 generates information relatingto a given marketing campaign such as that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The communications control module 832 controls audience measurementdevice's communications with other devices in accordance with theinvention and is responsive to requests for consumption report(s) fromother devices. The communications control module 832 controlscommunication, e.g., via interface 802, of individual consumptionreports and/or the overall consumption report to a marketing system,e.g., marketing management system 108, or another device.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary marketing management server 900implemented in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The exemplarymarketing management server 900 can be, and in some embodiments is, usedas the marketing management server 108 of FIG. 1. In some embodimentsthe marketing management server 900 is configured to implement at leastsome of the steps of the method of flowchart 300. In accordance with oneaspect of some embodiments the exemplary marketing management server 900is configured to receive and process consumption reports informationfrom the audience measurement device 800, determine if a givenadvertisement/marketing campaign is performing optimally and if desiredreallocate one or more advertisement resources in accordance with theinvention.

As shown, the marketing management server 900 includes an input/output(I/O) interface 902, an input device 904, a processor 906, and a memory910 coupled together via a bus 908. The various elements of themarketing management server 900 can exchange data and information overthe bus 908.

The I/O interface 902 includes a transmitter 912 and a receiver 914. Viathe I/O interface 902, the marketing management server 900 can exchangesignals and/or information with other devices and/or system elementssuch as the servers in the network headend 102.

The input device 904 may be a keypad, touch screen, and/or other devicefor receiving and processing input commands/instructions. The processor906, e.g., a CPU, executes control routines 922 and in some embodimentsone or more modules to control the marketing management server 900 tooperate in accordance with the invention and implement one or more stepsof the method of flowchart 300. Thus to control the operation ofmarketing management server 900, the processor 906 uses information,various modules and/or routines including instructions stored in memory910.

In addition to the routines 922, the memory 910 includes a monitoringmodule 924, a reception and processing module 926, a determinationmodule 928, an identification module 930, a resource allocations module932, a communications control module 934, marketing campaign rules 936,received individual consumption reports 938 and received overallconsumption report 940.

Routines 922 include communications routines and/or device controlroutines. The monitoring module 924 is configured to monitor forconsumption reports from one or more consumption tracking andmeasurement device such as the audience measurement device 800. Thereport reception and processing module 926 receives and processesconsumption reports received from one or more devices via the interface902. Monitoring and receipt of reports from individual consumptionmeasurement devices, may occur on an ongoing basis. In variousembodiments reception and processing module 926 analyzes the receivedconsumption reports to determine further actions to be taken by one ormore other modules of the marketing server 900.

The overall consumption report received by the marketing managementserver from the audience measurement device provides information on thenumber of unique customers which are reached via the overall marketingcampaign as well as the number of customers reached via particularcommunications channels. The determination module 928 is configured todetermine the success of a given marketing campaign based on a receivedcorresponding consumption report. As part of this determination thedetermination module 928 is configured to compare, based on theinformation in a received consumption report, the number of uniquecustomers reached by the marketing campaign for which the report isreceived to the target number of unique customers which were to bereached during the interval to which the received report corresponds aspart of the marketing campaign. The determination module 928 performs acheck to determine if the marketing goals are being satisfied or if achange in the allocation of marketing resources should be made. Based onthe determination, the determination module 928 provides input to theresource allocation module 932 to take further action.

For example if it is determined that the number of unique customersreached is not less than the target number of customers, i.e., themarketing objectives in terms of unique customers to be reached is beingsatisfied, then the determination module provides an input to theresource allocation module 932 indicating that the no changes to thecurrent advertisement resource allocation is recommended and currentadvertisement resource allocation should be maintained for the givenmarketing campaign. If it is determined that the marketing objectivesare not being meet, e.g., the number of unique customers being reachedis below the target number, the determination module 928 provides aninput to the identification module 930 triggering the identificationmodule 930 to identify, from the overall consumption report, differentadvertising channels corresponding to different content deliveryplatforms reaching, in the marketing campaign, same individualcustomers. This allows identification of overlapping advertisingchannels corresponding to different content delivery platforms. Thedetermination module 928 further provides an input to the resourceallocation module 932 recommending change in advertising resourceallocation for the marketing campaign. The identification module 930provides the information regarding the identified overlappingadvertising channels to the resource allocation module 932.

Based on the received input from the determination module 928 and theidentification module 930, the resource allocation module 932 decreasesthe advertisement resources allocated to one of the identifiedoverlapping channels corresponding to a first content delivery platform.In some embodiments the resource allocation module 932 increases theadvertisement resources allocated to another advertising channelcorresponding to a second content delivery platform, e.g., anadvertising channel with the least overlap, for better utilization ofadvertisement resources. It should be appreciated that theidentification of overlapping advertising channels corresponding todifferent content delivery platforms allows the marketing managementserver 900 to determine how to shift or reallocate resources betweendifferent marketing channels to increase the number of unique customersreached using limited marketing resources, e.g., limited number ofadvertisements which can be served given marketing budget constraints.

The communications control module 934 controls marketing managementserver's communications with other devices in accordance with theinvention. The communications control module 934 controls communication,e.g., via interface 902, of new advertisement resource allocationinformation to an advertisement server, e.g., server 164 of FIG. 1, tocontrol allocation of advertisements to different platforms inaccordance with new allocation of advertisement resources.

The marketing campaign rules 936 include information and/or guidelinesfor various marketing campaigns handled by the marketing managementserver 900. Each set of marketing campaign rules for a given campaignincludes rules or guidelines for that particular marketing campaign. Theguidelines include marketing objectives, preferred audience for thegiven campaign, a target number of unique audience, e.g., customers, tobe reached, preferred geographic location and/or demographics ofaudience etc. Received individual consumption reports 938 and theoverall consumption report 940 are stored in the server 900 followingtheir receipt from the audience measurement device 800.

The content consumption tracking methods allow a service provider toextend the capability associated with an individual service, such ascable or IP based TV programming services, by integrating Internet dataconsumption, e.g., web browsing data reflected in the form of DNSrequests and other consumption data, e.g., IP TV, cable network suppliedVOD content, SDV content, etc, allowing analyses of consumption data andanswers to questions like:

-   -   1) Do people that regularly visit these types of web sites also        tend to view television in certain ways?    -   2) Do people who tend to watch certain programs tend to visit        these types of web sites?    -   3) Do people who browse extensively tend to watch more or less        TV in general?    -   4) Do people who consume video on IP based TV viewing, e.g., on        a cell phone or pad device, tend to “replace” cable TV viewing        or viewing of particular programs with viewing of IP TV        consumption    -   5) Do people who watch certain kinds of programming on IP based        TV tend to watch certain kinds of programming on their regular        TV?

The results of such analysis can and in some embodiments are used toautomatically control or alter a marketing campaign to reduce the riskof repeatedly presenting the same advertisements to the same usersand/or with adjustments to amount of advertisements send over particularmarketing channels to increase the chance of reaching a larger number ofdistinct potential customers or voters.

Numerous variations on the above described embodiments are possible.

While a logical sequencing of the processing steps of the exemplaryembodiments of the methods, routines and subroutines of the presentinvention have been shown, the sequencing is only exemplary and theordering of the steps may be varied.

The techniques of various embodiments may be implemented using software,hardware and/or a combination of software and hardware. Variousembodiments are directed to apparatus, e.g., a media contentdistribution system. Various embodiments are also directed to methods,e.g., a method of controlling the distribution of media content, e.g.,video on demand audio and/or video content. Various embodiments are alsodirected to non-transitory machine, e.g., computer, readable medium,e.g., ROM, RAM, solid state storage, silicon storage disks, CDs, harddiscs, etc., which include machine readable instructions for controllinga machine to implement one or more steps of a method. In someembodiments devices, elements and/or modules that are configured toperform various functions are implemented as circuits, e.g., with adifferent circuit for each function being implemented in some but notnecessarily all embodiments.

Various features of the present invention are implemented using modules.For example each of the various routines and/or subroutines disclosedmay be implemented in one or more modules. Such modules may be, and insome embodiments are, implemented as software modules. In otherembodiments the modules are implemented in hardware, e.g., in circuitry,ASICs, ICs, etc. In still other embodiments the modules are implementedusing a combination of software and hardware. A wide variety ofembodiments are contemplated including some embodiments where differentmodules are implemented differently, e.g., some in hardware, some insoftware, and some using a combination of hardware and software. Itshould also be noted that routines and/or subroutines, or some of thesteps performed by such routines, may be implemented in dedicatedhardware as opposed to software executed on a general purpose processor.Such embodiments remain within the scope of the present invention. Manyof the above described methods or method steps can be implemented usingmachine executable instructions, such as software, included in a machinereadable medium such as a memory device, e.g., RAM, floppy disk, solidstate storage device, silicon storage device, etc. to control a machine,e.g., general purpose computer with or without additional hardware, toimplement all or portions of the above described methods. Accordingly,among other things, the present invention is directed to a machinereadable medium including machine executable instructions for causing amachine, e.g., processor and associated hardware, to perform one or moreof the steps of the above described method(s).

Numerous additional variations on the methods and apparatus of thevarious embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled inthe art in view of the above description. Such variations are to beconsidered within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communications method comprising: detecting afirst DNS request from a first device corresponding to a first customer;communicating information about the first DNS request to an audiencemeasurement device, said information including information correspondingto the first customer and information indicating a URL included in saidfirst DNS request; detecting, at a video control device, a first videorequest from a second device corresponding to a second customer, saidsecond customer being the same or different from said first customer;and communicating first video information to the audience measurementdevice, said first video information including information correspondingto the second customer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein saidinformation about the first DNS request includes a time, said time beinga time the first request was detected or a time the first request wasreceived by a DNS monitoring device.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinsaid information corresponding to the first customer includes at leastone of an IP address allocated to a first content playback device usedby the first customer or a MAC address associated with the firstcustomer.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein said first video informationincludes information indicating at least one of a program oradvertisement supplied to the second device.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein said video information includes information indicating a periodof time during which the program is provided to the subscriber.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein said program is a program provided inaccordance with a broadcast schedule and includes predeterminedadvertising content.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said program is aVOD program including targeted advertisements.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising: operating the audience measurement device togenerate an overall consumption report corresponding to a markingcampaign indicating at least a total number of customers reached acrossmultiple content delivery platforms via the marketing campaign during atime period to which the report corresponds and information indicatingthe number of customers reached via each content delivery platform forwhich the overall consumption report provides information.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein the overall consumption report includes informationindicating the overlap between customers being reached by at least twodifferent content delivery platforms or communications channels.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: communicating the overallconsumption report to marketing management device; and operating themarketing management device to automatically reallocate advertisementsbetween different content delivery platforms based on informationincluded in the overall consumption report to increase the number ofunique customers being reached by the marketing campaign.
 11. The methodof claim 10, wherein reallocating advertisements includes shiftingadvertisements from a first communication channel to a secondcommunications channel, said first communication channel having beenindicated to have customers being reached by said second communicationschannel as well as said first communications channel.
 12. Acommunications system comprising: a DNS request tracking moduleconfigured to detect a first DNS request from a first devicecorresponding to a first customer; an audience measurement deviceconfigured to receive DNS request information from the DNS requesttracking module, said information including information about the firstDNS request, said information including an identifier corresponding tothe first customer and information indicating a URL included in saidfirst DNS request; a video control device configured to detect a firstvideo request from a second device corresponding to a second customer,said second customer being the same or different from said firstcustomer; and wherein the audience measurement device is configured toreceive first video information about the detected first video requestwhich is from the second device corresponding to the second customer.13. The system of claim 12, wherein said information about the first DNSrequest includes a time, said time being a time the first request wasdetected or a time the first request was received by a DNS monitoringdevice.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein said informationcorresponding to the first customer includes at least one of an IPaddress allocated to a first content playback device used by the firstcustomer or a MAC address associated with the first customer.
 15. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein said first video information includesinformation indicating at least one of a program or advertisementsupplied to the second device.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein saidvideo information includes information indicating a period of timeduring which the program is provided to the subscriber.
 17. The systemof claim 16, wherein said program is a program provided in accordancewith a broadcast schedule and includes predetermined advertisingcontent.
 18. The system of claim 12, further comprising: an audiencemeasurement device configured to generate an overall consumption reportcorresponding to a marking campaign indicating at least a total numberof customers reached across multiple content delivery platforms via themarketing campaign during a time period to which the report correspondsand information indicating the number of customers reached via eachcontent delivery platform for which the overall consumption reportprovides information.
 19. The system of claim 18, further comprising; amarketing management device; wherein the audience measurement device isfurther configured to communicate the overall consumption report to themarketing management device; and wherein the marketing management deviceis configured to automatically change allocation of advertisementsbetween different content delivery channels based on informationincluded in the overall consumption report to increase the number ofunique customers being reached by the marketing campaign.
 20. The systemof claim 10, wherein changing the allocation of advertisements includesshifting advertisements from a first communication channel to a secondcommunications channel, said first communication channel having beenindicated to have customers being reached by said second communicationschannel as well as said first communications channel.